Car blog time. I picked up a 2002 530i with 65k miles and sport and premium package about 3 weeks ago for an amazing price. I knew it needed work, but it's about up to almost new. I did my research about problem areas before I went and was able to knock off signifigant money off his already low price. The title came in the mail on Friday.

To be done:-New coolant hoses, pump, thermostat, reservoir on the way. Hopefully will be here by Thursday. I picked up BMW spec coolant at the dealership on Saturday. They charge outrageous prices, btw.-Get the ABS Contrul Unit rebuilt by this company in Indiana for $300. I'll box it up tonight and ship it when I get home. The car should be driveable, but I'll just let it sit for the week or so it's gone. -Need to fix the passenger side power seat recline, one of the cables is loose. I found some write ups online-Find a good price on a MID replacement (display) in the center console. It's missing pixels, but the dash one isn't at least-figure out what's wrong with the parking sensors-maybe get a DICE ipod adapter

i put a new thermostat in the durrkota in the parking lot at my apt complex hungover as fuck a couple weekends ago. almost puked in the intake

and i put it on stands a couple weeks ago and pulled the front wheels trying to figure out wtf this popping sound when i accelerate/brake/turn is. i think i need new CVs. rotated the tires while it was up.

put racing pads on the S2000 and flushed the brake fluid 2 weeks ago. And returned the pads to OEM last week

When I stop feeling lazy I have to replace a bolt on the alternator mount for the Integra. I have no idea how 1 of 2 bolts fell out (thanks to Quinn for locating the problem, lol) but without that second bolt it squeals like a banshee

replaced both the clutch master and slave cylinders on the rx-7. so now it's a mobile POS again instead of a stationary one. the clutch switch is messed up so it makes an annoying noise, and the cruise control works when it feels like it

I registered it in Virginia and am looking at fixing the front brakes because I'm PRETTY sure the dealership fucked up the install and is too fucking stupid to fix it (considering I took noisy, clunking brakes to them under warranty and they just said "LOL THEY'RE FINE").

I guess you could also count the license plate bracket I installed on the front of the car that looks awkward as hell because I didn't have an OEM bracket. That was an amusing twenty minute diversion. The license plate isn't crooked now either, so I don't look completely fucking retarded! *thumbsup*

Installed and balanced a new Dunlop K70 front tire/tube on the bike. Unfortunately my spokes are rusted in place so I couldn't do very much truing. The side runout is a bit more than I like, but they're all tight and it's not worth re-lacing the wheel...yet. The handling is noticeably better since going back to a stock 3.5" tire vs the oversize 110/90 cheng shin that was on it. This old fashioned tube type tire was definitely easier to mount than the last modern tire I tried.

I've rejetted the carbs about 4 times now and am finally closing in on what I want. The plugs are light tan...a bit too light...but the main and pilot jets are plenty rich. I'm still playing with needle settings but that's a pain in the ass on these old Mikunis...involves snap rings in a hole that no snap ring pliers were meant to go...45 minutes to pull the carbs apart each time. At this point I think I should be looking into needles with a more aggressive taper. I've found a guy that actually makes custom needles to correct for the right cylinder on this bike running 20 degrees hotter than the left, or so he claims.

I had no idea how much the mixture influenced cylinder temps. I've dropped 30 degrees in identical conditions entirely because of more gasoline. Still running 270F on a hot day in traffic though...if I thought an oil cooler would help I would add one.

I readjusted the cam chain tensioner slightly, which then threw off my valve lash and timing. While resetting timing I pulled the advance rod from the camshaft and lubed everything, then really fubared my points adjustments and had to gap them and start from scratch. They're now the closest I've had them yet(points ignitions are always a poor average, especially when you're dealing with multiple sets.

On the plus side, after tuning the bike by ear and feel, I borrowed some mercury sticks to check the synch. I was within 1/10 of an inch of correct. I didn't even bother to touch the screw...you can't mess with perfection!

I recently ditched the giant stock 70's gauge cans(for that oldschool motorbike look..ha) and replaced the speedo with one of those little bicycle speedos from walmart. I've got the little LCD screen hidden behind the brake reservoir, and a neodynium magnet on the brake rotor. The instructions that came with it were rubbish(they didn't even have the magnet orientation correct for a reed switch), but since I've mounted it my way it's been working great for weeks now. I hit 90 the other day on it, which is way too fast for this old POS anyway.

I recently regeared the bike to handle freeway speeds, but I've since discovered that they make a replacement 5th gear with a proper overdrive. I definitely miss that tree climbing dirtbike torque it used to have in 1st, so I may swap that out come this winter.

Rebuilt the transmission in my 306 Lincoln TC, well I watched and learned as my buddy from Georgia did it Also added front and rear sway bars off an older police crown victoria. Tuned the TPS, fixed vacuum leaks, changed the fuel filter, adjusted the timing and idle, and fixed the broken power antenna (thanks LKQ)

Finished partial rebuild of my 91 Spirit 3.0L, replacing just about everything but the bottom end, with all new gaskets

Finished the timing belt, waterpump, crank & cam seal, lifter rebuild, vacuum line replacement, idle and timing, hoses, blah blah, on my POS 1985 300ZX, just in time to sell it before school started.